THE CRANE POOL FORUM thecranepool.net (.com)

These guys could be comig out of the woodwork this weekend. But here's one guy: actor Michael Vartan of Alias. I wouldn't know the guy if he ran me over with a car, but the kids supposedly are crazy about him.

Vartan interviewed in Sports Illustrated:

SI: For a huge hockey fan like you, how big a thrill was it to hang around the Cup?

Vartan: I've worked with some of the hottest women in Hollywood, and it's by far the most nervous I've been on camera. the moment I saw the Cup I got the chills. The first 10 takes I flubbed every line.

SI: You only moved to the US at age 18. How does a guy from Fleury, France, become a Mets fan?

Vartan: I had Mets pajamas as a kid.

SI: You're filming "Monster-in-Law" with Jennifer Lopez, a Yankees fan, and Jane Fonda, who was married to the owner of the Braves. Have you outlawed baseball talk on the set?

Vartan: The first thing I told Jane was, "I was a huge fan of yours until I saw you sitting in the stands of Turner Field doing the tomahawk chop."

Who knew they wore Piazza pajamas in France?

ScarletKnight41 Jul 21 2005 04:15 PM

]Vartan: I had Mets pajamas as a kid.

Classikc!

Willets Point Jul 21 2005 04:27 PM

Fess up! Which one of you is Michael Vartan?

metirish Jul 21 2005 04:34 PM

I posted before how Viggo Mortensen is a huge Met fan, a search on google found this, Vartan gets a mention..

]Viggo Mortensen Q&ABy Richard Deitsch

5 August 2004

Source: Sports Illustrated magazine The 45-year-old Lord of the Rings hero and impassioned Mets fan stars in Hidalgo, just out on DVD.

Best sporting event you've attended?

The 1972 Olympics in Munich. I didn't have tickets, but there was a huge glass wall at the swimming hall, and me and some other kids illicitly climbed up to the glass to watch. I saw Mark Spitz and Gary Hall Sr. Since I swam it was amazing.

At the 1980 Games in Lake Placid, you worked as a translator for the Scandinavian teams. How did you pull that off?

I was at St Lawrence University in New York, and there was a call for volunteers with language skills. I spoke the Scandinavian languages because I'd lived in Denmark. The best thing was, I got free passes to events, and every night I'd watch hockey. The only game I didn't see was the U.S. final against Finland, because I had to go back to school.

You were at the Miracle on the Ice against the Soviets?

It was unbelievable. You were kind of hoping they'd win, but you knew there was no way it would happen. And right before your eyes, a miracle. It was such an underdog story. That's what fascinated me. Maybe that's why I love the Mets.

For your Vanity Fair cover story, you brought the author a cardboard box of stuff that included a book of poetry that comes with an owl-shaped pewter trinket. What did you bring SI for this interview?

Well, since we're on the phone, I don't have anything for you. I can probably get you some San Lorenzo [Argentina soccer team] gear. Let's just say I brought you a 1969 Tom Seaver jersey. Then you can say: 'I can't believe you're giving me this.' And I'll say: 'That's all right, it's just a thing.'

You're a fan of the Argentine soccer team San Lorenzo, and in April you were given a plaque and a lifetime membership card. How did you and San Lorenzo hook up?

Along with having similar colors, San Lorenzo is a little like the Mets in the sense they don't have the biggest treasure chest. But every once in a while they beat the big guys anyway. A few years back I was speaking to a Hispanic journalist, and the subject of soccer came up. I asked if the interview would be seen in Argentina. I said say 'hi,' to the Argentine people where I lived as a kid and in particular to Los Cuervos, the San Lorenzo fans. Somehow somebody in their P.R. department got wind of that and said if you ever come down, come see a game. Eventually through Lord of the Rings and Hidalgo I had the opportunity.

You, Michael Vartan and Jerry Seinfeld have publicly proclaimed your love for the Mets. Explain how you got started.

I was about 11 when I came to the U.S. in '69. I got a crash course in baseball that October when the Mets won the World Series. Even though we moved to northern New York -- it was a Yankees town if anything -- the Mets were my team from then on. I've stuck with them through thick and thin. If I'm in town when they come to L.A., I'll see them play. It's not any easier being a Mets fan than it is being a fan of San Lorenzo. You have to have a lot of perseverance -- that's what being a fan is about. You can't be a bandwagon guy. When we began shooting Lord of the Rings in New Zealand in '00 there was a guy who taped the Subway Series games when we were working, and I would watch them late at night. God, that was hard to watch. It was crushing. Horrible. It made me want to kill some more in the next scene. Or at least kill a certain pitcher.

You kept the sword you used throughout the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and you actually bought the horse from Hidalgo. Any other sports memorabilia floating around the Mortensen house?

I have enough shirts to field a whole San Lorenzo team, and I have a couple of different autographed baseballs and a Phillies uniform. It's nice to have the jerseys and horse, but those are things and objects. It's what you carry inside you. If you're a Mets fan, it's the ups and downs and the memories of the games you've seen that matters. The best thing I carry with me from the Lord of the Rings -- and most of the actors and crew would agree -- was the experience of doing it.

http://www.viggo-works.com/index.php?page=142

Edgy DC Jul 21 2005 04:40 PM

Met fans include the guy who played Hidalgo and the guy who played Vaughn.

Pretty. Freakin'. Kewl.

seawolf17 Jul 21 2005 04:40 PM

="Willets Point"]Fess up! Which one of you is Michael Vartan?

Nuts. One of you finally figured out my secret identity. Here I am with one of my best friends in the whole world, Jen Garner.

It's good to be me.

Willets Point Jul 21 2005 04:57 PM

I hope you got a chance to roger her before she married Ben.

seawolf17 Jul 21 2005 06:06 PM

Willets Point wrote:I hope you got a chance to roger her before she married Ben.

Hells yeah I did!

Edgy DC Jul 21 2005 06:17 PM

SI: What did you think of Joe (Torre)'s performance in Analyze That?

(Billy) Crystal: Joe can handle any situation. He can talk off the top of his head. He can be very eloquent. He was actually slightly nervous to meet Bob DeNiro because Joe's a big fan of his. And when Bob saw him and told Joe what a big Mets fan he was, I think that showed where Bob was.

An excerpt from a longer interview with David Liss, author of The Coffee Trader and A Conspiracy of Paper (for which he won the Edgar Prize for Best First Novel).

Robert Birnbaum: Were you a contestant in the Godfather saga sweepstakes?

David Liss: Was I a contestant?

RB: I thought Random and Jonathan Karp solicited submissions from an array of writers to continue the Godfather.

DL: I am horribly insulted that he never talked to me about it. Actually, it’s not an offer I would have wanted to have been made. It seems like the equivalent of somebody driving up a big truckload of money to your house and saying, "Do you want this?" I'm glad I wasn't asked. He [Karp] was cooking up a scheme to get a pretty major former Met to write a memoir. And I'm a big Met fan and he asked if I would be interested in maybe getting involved in a project like that. That is something I would have done.

RB: Ghostwriter?

DL: Yeah, or collaborator. That's something that it would have been pretty much impossible to say no to. So I am also kind of glad it never happened.

RB: So can you still be a Mets fan in San Antonio.

DL: It probably makes it a little bit easier to be further away.

RB: No interest in the Astros or the Rangers? Arizona Diamondbacks?

DL: I know people who have moved and they have become fans of the locals. I just can't do that. Your fandom is not something you can change. It's like your religion.

It's simply more fun to write a book in which everybody is either crooked or likely to be crooked.

RB: That makes sense for a by-gone era. Having grown up in Chicago I will always be interested in the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bears, but I don't know why. None of these sports have the good-faith relationship with fans that engenders loyalty.

DL: I agree, especially this past season with the Mets with their aging hired guns, none of whom really wanted to be there. It really makes you wonder, what is a team? What constitutes a Met or a Cub or whatever? I have gone on rants that you should have to grow up in the area where the team plays in order to play for the team. Something that would create a kind of coherence to the teams. That would make them much more interesting.

DL: I can totally understand. I think a system where it's much harder to switch between teams and that you had to come up through the farm system in order to play on the team and maybe every team was allowed a certain amount of exceptions to this rule would make for much more compelling sport.

RB: But then what did Curt Flood and Andy Messersmith fight for?

DL: I don't think the unions would go for it this scheme.

metirish Jul 21 2005 11:02 PM

Edgy great quote from David Liss..

RB: No interest in the Astros or the Rangers? Arizona Diamondbacks?

]I know people who have moved and they have become fans of the locals. I just can't do that. Your fandom is not something you can change. It's like your religion.

have to love that.

I love this quote from Viggo.

]You can't be a bandwagon guy. When we began shooting Lord of the Rings in New Zealand in '00 there was a guy who taped the Subway Series games when we were working, and I would watch them late at night. God, that was hard to watch. It was crushing. Horrible. It made me want to kill some more in the next scene. Or at least kill a certain pitcher.

]To the most coining/shaping experiences to its youth, which pull also quasi leitmotivisch its literary work through, baseball belongs again and again. Not only that it supplies a pretty reason for its writer career: when he did not want to request after a play the New York Mets, to which he had gone with his grandfather, an autograph of its Idol Willie May, had he a pin to the hand: After that I more never went anywhere without A pen. Paul Auster seems to have been a good player (in the Little League, the youth crews of the large baseball clubs) and an absolute fan of the N.Y Mets. M.S. Fogg reads even half verhungert in the cent ral park still daily the table conditions of the Mets in the New York Times. One of the most beautiful descriptions of the play is m.E. in Moon Palace in the first approximation of Fogg and Kitty Wu (P. 92).

Edgy DC Jul 26 2005 11:17 AM

I'm trying to find actual interview comments about the Mets, rather than profiles that say "Sen. Kickback is reportedly a big Mets fan."

So here's a PDF of an interview with Auster (who also wrote an introduction for Terry Leach's memoir). An excerpt below:

]Dora Shamsky, in Moon Palace, is not called that for a long time, she bears other names before she becomes Dora. In Luna, she is “Dora Sparks, née Witkowski”. Considering the Freudian overtones of her first name did you change her last to signify Freud was a “sham”?

[Laughter] No, but I have to say that there was a baseball player on the Mets named Art Shamsky, and I always liked this name very much. There was some business in Moon Palace about the 1969 Mets and Art Shamsky happened to be on that team. So, his name inevitably found its way into the book.

You have a whole list of players in one of your notebooks...

Do I?

Twenty five names or so, but only a few surface in the novel. Well, Memo Luna for example, was a real player, and I got carried away with some of the funny names. I was looking through the Baseball Encyclopedia, and jotting down the ones that I was most attracted to. Virgil Trucks was one.

I just... [Laughter] Only in baseball do they have names like that... There’s a guy on the Mets now named Butch Husky! Come on! How is this possible? There was another player, I used to love his name: Charlie Spikes; he was never very good but his name… It’s fantastic, fantastic!

There used to be, and still are, people who play games making up imaginary teams with funny names for the players. It’s like a little minor sport in America. My favorite one is the “Body Parts Team”. In it was a pitcher named Rollie Fingers, and another pitcher named Bill Hands and Barry Foote, the catcher, and, you know, on and on. On the "Money Team" there was Don Money and Bobby Bonds, and Dave Cash. It goes on and on...

metirish Jul 29 2005 11:31 AM

Count Larry Brown as a Mets fan, Brown yesterday with Benigno and Rosenberg off-air while the tech gys tried to get them back on air.

]The line broke the tension. The techie and his serious colleague commenced their attempt to get the show back on the air. Sidiot started yapping about his beloved Brooklyn.

He asked Brown about his Brooklyn days and where he grew up.

"I would have gone to Midwood (High School) ..." Brown said.

"My sister went to Midwood," Rosenberg said.

Benigno: "Are we back on the air yet?"

They were not.

The technical guys continued scrambling. Brown had more interviews to do. No one could blame him, or his Garden PR chaperone, if he split. Instead, Brown had a question.

"How did the Mets do yesterday?" he asked.

The talkies told him they won.

Brown: "What's that, seven of eight?"

Benigno: "No, they lost the first two in Colorado. Big series against the Astros tonight - Pedro. You a Met fan Larry?"

Brown: "Yes I am, I love baseball."

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/332553p-284144c.html

Spacemans Bong Jul 29 2005 02:18 PM

I know Larry was a Brooklyn Dodger fan back in the day.

I'm a big fan of Bob DeNiro being a Met fan.

metirish Jul 29 2005 02:28 PM

Yeah DeNiro is a good one, Jerry O'Connell is a Mets fan, remember the chubby kid for "Stand By Me"..

5. Did you have any sports idols growing up?

I've got to tell you, being in New York in 1986 (when the Mets won the World Series), just changed everything. It was a life-changing experience. Honestly, if you were a kid between the ages of 10 and 15, and you lived in New York in 1986, you really believed anything was possible.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page3/story?page=igoe/040818

G-Fafif Jul 29 2005 04:53 PM

Carly Simon, one of my all-time favorite recording artists, was briefly romantically linked to Keith Hernandez. In 1986, she recorded a song called "Two Hot Girls," in which the concurrent object of affections was a boy named Dwight -- Gooden wasn't specified, but c'mon. I scanned an interview with her in a magazine called New York Woman in which she confessed her fantasy was to have an affair with Darryl Strawberry. So I assumed she was a Mets fan.

In November 1990, shortly after Frank Cashen gave away the things we loved and one of them was Straw, Carly was doing a record signing at the Sam Goody near Rockefeller Center. I went, stood in line and handed her my copy of Have You Seen Me Lately? to autograph. She smiled and said hello. Instead of helloing her back, I asked, "Can you believe the Mets let Darryl go?"

Her face shifted from smile to grimace. "I know," Carly Simon told me. "It's like they’re not even the same team anymore."

Carly Simon was right.

Edgy DC Jul 29 2005 05:20 PM

Carly also goes back with the Dodgers. If you believe her story, her family helped Jackie and Rachel Robinson get a house, and they lived with her family for a few years.

Her ex James Taylor is a Red Sox man, so 1986 must have been something else for her.

G-Fafif Jul 29 2005 07:08 PM

Edgy DC wrote:Her ex James Taylor is a Red Sox man, so 1986 must have been something else for her.

I think we know who was singin' "Mockingbird" to whom when James came over to pick up the kids the first weekend of that November.

metirish Aug 08 2005 10:40 PM

OK, for the life of me I couldn't remember this girls name until I read this thread ..

The Times gossip (or society) page was commenting on Katie Couric's spread for AARP's magazine, then led into this piece.

Club Kid, 90

Though LES PAUL, a pioneer of the electric guitar, is 90, he has never made AARP's cover. But then, Mr. Paul is hardly retired. He still plays regularly around town and keeps the hours of a club kid. We recently saw him checking out Velvet Revolver, a rock band led by SLASH, the former Guns N' Roses guitarist, at the new Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square.

Mr. Paul shared a table with ACE FREHLEY of the group Kiss (Can a Kiss cover for AARP be far behind?) and the Mets catcher MIKE PIAZZA. The band was very loud and Mr. Paul was adjusting his hearing aid. We asked whether he was turning the volume up or down.

"I was turning them off!" he said.

"I got the hearing aids at Sam Ash," he said, referring to the music store. "They're the JIMI HENDRIX Model. They even come with a wah-wah pedal."

The conversation turned to politics, and Mr. Paul recalled playing for F.D.R. in 1939, taking a presidential request for "Home on the Range."

He refuses to talk politics publicly.

"I played for CLINTON, EISENHOWER, NIXON, CARTER and ROOSEVELT," Mr. Paul said. "I would never get political with them. It does no good for your career to say what you think. It's better to just play."

OCB: Okay, just a couple of rapid fire questions to end the interview. Yankees or Mets?

RT: Mets. Mets all the way. If you grow up in New Jersey, you have to like the Mets. And I grew up during that's (sic) whole '86 World Series, so the Mets were my team.

Valadius Oct 12 2005 11:23 AM

Edgy DC wrote:If you grow up in New Jersey, you have to like the Mets.

If only that were true...

ScarletKnight41 Oct 12 2005 11:35 AM

You gotta be kidding Edgy. We're actually in Phillies territory here, with enough MFY and Mets fans to keep the mix interesting.

Edgy DC Oct 12 2005 11:38 AM

You're talking to the wrong guy. I'm not in My Chemical Romance at all.

sharpie Oct 12 2005 12:12 PM

The former bass player and sometimes singer for the Saw Doctors talked about the Mets at a Saw Doctors show I saw in Brooklyn a couple of years back. Said he was living here in '86 and has been a fan since then. Some dolt yelled "Yankees" and "Mets Suck" but the Saw Doctors guy told him to shut it.

Yancy Street Gang Oct 13 2005 03:48 PM

Somebody posted this as a memory of Bob Goldsholl. It has nothing to do with Bob, so it's rejected. But it does mention a celebrity Mets fan from years ago:

]I've been a Mets fan since the team's birth in 1962, attending their first home against the Pirates in the Polo Grounds. I have many fond memories amid the disappointing ones, but the one that stands out is when we had season tickets throughout the '70s in Box 213 behind first, and just a few rows in front of us sat (and sometimes stood) Robert Alda. I've always wanted to tell his son, Alan, that his father and I shared a love for the Mets in good times and bad. Maybe this will reach him someday. Daddy Alda, upon arrival would stand and look around. I don't know if he was counting the house, but my wife and I always assumed he wanted to be recognized, and he most defintely was

TheOldMole Oct 13 2005 08:33 PM

Robert Alda, the original Sky Masterson -- so a New York icon, himself.

Zakk Wylde, who guest-starred on an episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

TheOldMole Nov 05 2005 08:59 PM

I don't know if we can handle that much celebrity.

Frayed Knot Nov 06 2005 09:37 PM

Piazza pulled enough strings to get Wylde a gig playing the 'Star Spangled Banner' at Shea during a game I was at about 5-6 years ago.

Even by national-anthem-via-metal-guitar standards it was pretty awful.

apmorris Nov 06 2005 11:05 PM

who're these jokers?

Edgy DC Nov 10 2005 09:58 AM

]What I loved about this book and this script is that it all takes place in one location, their house. It’s a universal thing – whether you grew up in a one-room shack, an apartment building or a mansion – it all gets down to your imagination, a child’s imagination. When I was a kid, in our little apartment in New York, I went to the Wild West and had gunfights. I went into space and saved the world from aliens. I pitched the seventh game of the World Series and the Mets won. I had intricate fantasies but they played themselves out within a very small room.

– Tim Robbins on his role in the upcoming film Zathura (Entertainment News Wire feature, Nov 2005)

A: Mets, Jets, Rangers and Knicks. It was a good day or a bad day depending on the Jets' Sunday. That just defined me as a kid. My grandfather was one of the security force at Shea Stadium. He worked a second job with the Jets and the Mets. That's how I fell in love with sports and sportscasting. It was more exciting to me to meet Bob Murphy and Lindsey Nelson than it was to meet the players.

Edgy DC Dec 28 2005 04:17 PM

Clare Danes takes a so-called cut.

Julia Stiles waits for her pitch.

Bobby Cannavale connects.

Gaby Hoffman chokes up and looks to go to right.

Richard Kind watches the competition.

David Wright's bachelor status under siege.

Edgy DC Dec 28 2005 04:21 PM

David St. Hubbins in the house.

seawolf17 Dec 28 2005 07:33 PM

Mmm... Claire Danes. My wife looks like Claire Danes.

Edgy DC Dec 28 2005 07:37 PM

So, sheesh, stop panting after pictures of Claire, then. You've got the real thing. More power to you.

Lusting after pictures of Claire is for people without one at home.

Willets Point Dec 30 2005 12:44 PM

Sure I'm jealous of a man who gets to play for the Mets, but more so of a man who gets to touch Julia Stiles and Claire Danes at the same time.

MFS62 Dec 30 2005 03:07 PM

Willets Point wrote:Sure I'm jealous of a man who gets to play for the Mets, but more so of a man who gets to touch Julia Stiles and Claire Danes at the same time.

Who is that touching both of those beauties?The only CPF-er I've met in person is KC.

Later

Edgy DC Dec 30 2005 03:12 PM

It's David Wright.

MFS62 Dec 30 2005 03:44 PM

Edgy DC wrote:It's David Wright.

TX, he looked too natural in that uni to be a member of this crew,er, pool Chicks dig the longball.

Later

Elster88 Dec 30 2005 03:54 PM

LOL, MFS, try reading the caption next time.

MFS62 Dec 30 2005 04:00 PM

Elster88 wrote:LOL, MFS, try reading the caption next time.

Why? And ruin my reputation?Actually, I looked for one and didn't notice it. Those pics were in a long post.

Later

Spacemans Bong Dec 30 2005 04:41 PM

Julia Stiles as a Met fan. Hoo boy.

I'm guessing De Niro, as a staunch Manhattanite, was a Giants fan as a boy before converting to the Mets.

metirish Jan 10 2006 12:08 AM

Zakk Wilde belts one out....

cooby Jan 10 2006 07:40 AM

Piazza likes that!

Frayed Knot Jan 10 2006 09:24 AM

I was at that Zakk Wilde game where he got to do the anthem before the game.It's a good thing he's buddies w/Piazza because the rendition was pretty awful. You could see MP laughing from the stands.

Paul Taglieri is in his eighth year as the Mets Director of Florida Operations at St. Lucie County-owned Tradition Field. He oversaw a $10 million renovation of then-Thomas J. White Stadium before its 2004 name

Paul Taglieri

change, then organized recovery from $5.2 million in damages from hurricanes Jeanne and Frances. This past October, he oversaw reconstruction of fields and equipment after Hurricane Wilma. Taglieri is now busy preparing for Feb. 16 when the New York Mets pitchers and catchers arrive in Port St. Lucie for spring training.

Q: What was the main damage from Hurricane Wilma that you had to fix?

A: Most of the damage was done to the playing fields and equipment surrounding the playing fields. We had to do a lot of work to get the fields naturally in the playing condition they need to be in.

Q: Should it all be fully repaired by spring training?

A: Yes, we'll have it all done.

Q: How many years have you been involved in baseball?

A: I started my career in baseball as an intern in 1991 and have been in sports ever since. I spent three years with the (NBA's) New Jersey Nets. Then, I went to work for the Red Sox in Sarasota. I become a (general manager) of a rookie team affiliated with the Houston Astros in upstate New York (in Auburn, run through Auburn Community Baseball).

Q: Which team did you follow growing up?

A: I'm not sure if I should say. I did follow the Yankees. When my son (8-year-old Zachary) was born, I was working with Auburn at the time. My son's room was decorated with all Yankee stuff — Yankee wallpaper and Yankee clothes. I grew up a die-hard Yankee fan. Now, I don't follow them at all. My daughter (9-year-old Samantha) went to Cooperstown with me when she was a baby, and we bumped into George Steinbrenner. He picked her up and she started screaming and crying uncontrollably. Maybe it was a sign.

Q: How do Mets fans differ from Yankees fans?

A: You see a different type of excitement in a Mets fan than a Yankees fan. The Yankees have won a lot of titles. I think our fans are hungrier for a World Series title and there is a greater sense of pride.

sharpie Feb 06 2006 05:50 PM

This from the current Publisher's Weekly. Rosset is Barney Rosset, Samuel Beckett's publisher.

Beckett came to New York - once, in 1964, to work on a short film that he'd written called Film, starring Buster Keaton, to be distributed by Rosset. He spent a hot summer week at Rosset's Houston Street townhouse, but did catch up with Dick Seaver, who, as it turns out, was second cousin to the future Hall of Fame pitcher for the New York Mets, Tom Seaver. Seaver (Dick, that is) helped Beckett beat the heat by taking him to a Mets doubleheader at Shea Stadium in Queens. "I tried to explain the rudiments of the game to him," says Seaver four decades later. "I also explained that the Mets were at the time a fledgling team and pretty terrible." Beckett, later known for his kinship to failure ("Try again. Fail again. Fail better."), found the miserable Mets to be perfectly enjoyable, so much so that he insisted they stay for the second game. Unfortunately, the Mets, rather improbably, won both games.

Incredibly, the Mets were a double-header sweeping machine in their new home in 1964.

Here and here, they took two from the Reds behind Galen Cisco (a Johnsonian 1-0 win, as Joe Christopher doubled in the only run in the ninth inning) and Frank Lary.

Here and here, they took two more from the Colts on July 31 with Lary (shutout) and Jack Fisher wiinning. Kranepool homered in the nightcap.

But wait, there's more! Here and here, they closed out a 7-4 homestand with two walkoff wins over the Cubbies, with Willard Hunter wining both ends in relief. Amazin'!

And if that's more excitement than your typical nihilist playwright can handle, here and here, they did the trick on the Colts, again, with September 7 starters Al Jackson and Jack Fisher needing no late-inning heroics.

I'm convinced Waiting for Godot was originally titled Waiting for Gonder.

I don't follow it much anymore, but I think 50 Cent's popularity is low these days. Maybe if he gets shot it'll help his street cred.

Elster88 Jun 19 2006 12:52 PM

Gotta be careful these days. It's going to be hard to differentiate between a Met-Lovin Big Shot and a Bandwagoning Big Shot. Didn't 50 Cent wear Red Yankee hats back in the day?

Yancy Street Gang Jun 19 2006 01:25 PM

During the Mets-Yankees series at Shea, the FOX Sports telecast showed us Brian Cashman sitting in his box at Shea. While the camera was on Cashman, Joe Gannascoli sat down in a seat a row or two in front of Cashman. His Sopranos character, the late Vito Spatafore, was an obnoxious Yankee fan. But, on this day at least, the actor who played Vito was wearing a Mets cap. (One of the all-black variety.)

Joe Gannascoli is a fan of exposure. He showed up in the booth the last game in Philadelphia and, when cornered by Howie Rose, admitted he roots for the Mets when they're not playing the Yankees. After Burrell closed the gap to 4-2, I sensed a Vito-glomming-off-the-Mets jinx in effect. GET HIM OUT OF THE BOOTH!

Joe Nathan talksBY BOB SANSEVEREPioneer PressIf I had a time machine, I'd want to go to the beginning of humanity to see how everything started.

Naive people make me angry. I'm talking about any subject. If they don't know something about something, they shouldn't talk about it. They shouldn't fake their way through it. That's what questions are for.

My teammates probably would be surprised to know I'm really smart. It takes a genius to act so dumb.

I don't make closing as big a deal as it is. I try to make it as simple as I can. Make it what it is: Get the final three outs.

I'm not worried about getting three strikeouts. Just get them out. Preserve a win.

My son, Cole, makes me laugh. He's coming up on 21 months. Every day, it's something new with him. He's dancing now. I don't know where he picked it up, but he has learned how to dance. Every time a song comes on, he's got a new move. My family keeps me laughing. My family keeps me grounded.

My favorite cartoon growing up was the Roadrunner. You would always see the Coyote draw up plans and always fail.

If I found Aladdin's Lamp, I'd wish for happiness, never worrying about money and never running out of wishes.

The New York Mets were my favorite team when I was a kid. I was 12 when they won their last World Series. I remember sitting down watching it with a buddy. It was a big weekend. I remember we smashed a car with a pipe to raise money for some charity.

If I could have superhero powers, I'd definitely want to be able to fly. That would be pretty cool. I'd also want to go underwater like Aquaman. And I'd like to have X-ray vision and superhuman strength.

I'm good with numbers.

I don't know if I'd be a good accountant, but if I wasn't playing baseball, I'd like to be involved in sports. Maybe sports management. I have a business management degree.

I was 10 or 11, there was a group of us, and probably the meanest thing we ever did was to this one kid who was kind of easy to tease. We pretended we were wrecking his bike, but we weren't. We made it look like we were. We got in trouble for that.

I was a shortstop as a kid, so I always followed Cal Ripken. He was one of my favorite athletes growing up. I wanted to be a shortstop.

I pitched in Little League, but I didn't pitch in high school or college. I was made a pitcher in the minors. It definitely wasn't my favorite option.

I was told in 1995 I was going to become a pitcher. I took 1996 off and went back to school to get my degree. It was nice to get that done and clear my head. I didn't know if I wanted to pitch. I knew I had a good arm from short, but it was still going to be a crapshoot whether I was going to be good or not.

Closing wasn't something I thought about doing. It was just an opportunity I got when I came over to the Twins.

Everyone has their own unique thing. Personalities are different. Styles of pitching are different. I think every pitcher has the same goal: Strike one, and work ahead in the count. It doesn't matter if you're a starter, closer or middle relief, you have the same strategy to get ahead of hitters. I think everyone gets to strike one in different ways.

I'm in the dugout for the first three innings. I'm in the clubhouse for the next two innings, and I head down to the bullpen to get ready in the middle of the sixth inning. No matter what the score is.

Most people think baseball is such an easy lifestyle. It's more blue-collar, and baseball players lead a simple life. We're not too complicated. People think our lives are so different than theirs. I don't think our lives are that different. Our lives are pretty similar to a 9-to-5 schedule. When most people get home from work, they have a few hours before they go to sleep. By the time we get home from work, everybody is asleep. We have our free time in the morning when we get up.

My most prized possession? I wish I could say a championship ring, but I can't say that yet.

My favorite author is Harlan Coben. He writes murder mysteries. He has a ton of books. Mainly I've read his series on Myron Bolitar, who's a sports agent.

My favorite movie is "Forrest Gump." I like how it has a little bit of everything, and it's funny how they tie the movie to real events that have happened in our history.

I don't do a Forrest Gump imitation. I'll leave that to Tom Hanks.

My favorite video game? There's always a new one out, but Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 is one I like.

My wife is Italian. She does most of the cooking. I can make a mean pasta and maybe a PB&J sandwich. I'm a griller. Anything we need to cook on the grill, I can do a pretty good job of that.

I don't know that I have a favorite expression, but I say, "Believe it" a lot.

My wife and I are both from the Northeast. She's from Jersey. I'm from New York. We met in Arizona at a restaurant. We were hanging out before we sat down. I was with some people. She was with a group of her friends. We met and started talking. I put her through five years before we got married. It was more finding out if she could handle the lifestyle. I was in the minors at the time. She didn't know much about baseball, which was a plus. When I saw the type of family person she was and that she could handle the lifestyle, I knew she was the one.

I'm a big golfer. I have a 10 handicap. That's not too bad for how much I get to play.

I'm moving to Tennessee. We're building a house in Knoxville. My wife has family there. And it's a closer location to everything. It's closer to the Northeast than Arizona. It's closer to Florida for spring training.

I was born in Texas. I've always liked the South.

I listen to it all. You name it. The range goes from Metallica to Sinatra to Red Hot Chili Peppers to Coldplay.

I can't sing. Simon Cowell would tell me to stick to my day or night job.

I'm really big into "24." That's probably the first TV show I'd TiVo. I love "House." Plus, I'm into "The Contender." My wife's cousin's husband is a boxing manager. I've become a huge boxing fan.

Before I started growing my hair longer, people said I looked like Ben Affleck. So if a movie was made about my life, he should probably play me. They also could go with Vince Vaughn. And I've been told I look like that guy (Matthew Lillard) who played Shaggy in the "Scooby Doo" movies. I have been called Shaggy.

The best advice I ever got was: Never be satisfied. Always want more, always want to learn more and get better. No matter how much success you have, there's always a way to improve.

I want my epitaph to say, "Here lies Joe Nathan, who was a good husband and good father."

]I remember we smashed a car with a pipe to raise money for some charity.

How exactly does that work?

seawolf17 Aug 07 2006 10:28 AM

="Edgy DC"]Naive people make me angry. I'm talking about any subject. If they don't know something about something, they shouldn't talk about it. They shouldn't fake their way through it. That's what questions are for.

My teammates probably would be surprised to know I'm really smart. It takes a genius to act so dumb.

I don't know if I'd be a good accountant, but if I wasn't playing baseball, I'd like to be involved in sports. Maybe sports management. I have a business management degree.

I was told in 1995 I was going to become a pitcher. I took 1996 off and went back to school to get my degree. It was nice to get that done and clear my head. I didn't know if I wanted to pitch. I knew I had a good arm from short, but it was still going to be a crapshoot whether I was going to be good or not.

YEAH Stony Brook.

holychicken Aug 07 2006 11:38 AM

Yancy Street Gang wrote:

]I remember we smashed a car with a pipe to raise money for some charity.

How exactly does that work?

We used to have that every year at our HS homecoming event.

They would get a free car from a junkyard and you would buy 3 swings with a sledgehammer on it. Of course, being the first to go was the best and you paid more fo that because you got to smash out the headlights.

One year, because of rain, they cancelled it but the car sat in the parking lot for the next few days. We took it upon ourselves to help it fulfill it's fate. The most fun thing I ever got suspended for.

metirish Aug 20 2006 12:57 PM

Glen Close

SteveJRogers Aug 20 2006 01:00 PM

I wonder why Glenn was wearing a 1994 uni and not a retro 86 one?

Only thing I can figure is that she wanted the 69 team to have some measure of reconigtion

Hmmm...

Edgy DC Aug 23 2006 03:24 PM

Larry Kirwan, reading about Rey Ordoñez when the world changed..

TALKING PICTURES: TOO MANY MEMORIES

by David Templeton(2006-08-24)

World Trade Center, the new film by director Oliver Stone, would—on the surface—seem to be the perfect cinematic subject for a ripe and chewy—and emotionally powerful, post-film conversation. The film, set during and just after the events of September 11, 2001, tells the gripping tale of Port Authority officers Will Jimeno (Michael Peña) and John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage), two of only twenty real-life survivors to be pulled alive from the rubble of the Twin Towers. It’s the story of regular folks forced by extraordinary circumstances to reach beyond their fears and frailties in order to help total strangers. It also recreates a defining moment in American history, the event that led semi-directly to the spectacularly unsuccessful war currently whimpering and sputtering along in Iraq.

What could be richer fodder for conversation than that?

It doesn’t matter, ultimately, because after weeks of making inquiries, I haven’t found one person who will agree to go out and see World Trade Center. A long string of writers and experts have turned me down, from Dennis Smith, author of the book Report From Ground Zero: the Story of the Rescue Efforts at the World Trade Center to Lee Templeton, my sister-in-law, whose popular McSorley’s Pub Radio (www.onenightatmcsorleys.com) was directly inspired by the events of 9-11. The disinclined all have good reasons, summed up in Lee’s concise reply, “It’s just too soon.” Perhaps the most moving refusal comes from author-playwright-musician Larry Kirwan, the lead-singer and guitarist for the gritty New York-based Irish-rock band Black 47, whose downtown Manhattan pub appearances have always been heavily attended by members of the New York Fire Department, a huge fan-base that was cut in half when the World Trade Center came down.

“I have no interest in the world in seeing that movie,” says the Ireland-born Kirwan, speaking by phone from New York. “It’s been five years, and I'm thinking the initial shock and hurt of 9-11 has worn off a bit, but there’s still a deep scar underneath the surface, especially if you knew people who died in the World Trade Center, or if you saw it fall with your own eyes. It’s a very personal subject to a lot of people.”

Kirwan’s moving 2005 memoir, Green Suede Shoes, ends just after September 11, a day that has subtly, and not-so-subtly, affected the music of Black 47 ever since. Known for the raw intelligence and wry wit of their songs, Black 47 (who will be visitng the Bay Area this Fall) have always celebrated the actions of un-extraordinary people, working-class folks whose primary act of heroism is getting out of bed and going on with their lives. Their 2004 album, New York Town, is a stirring collection of tracks that subtly tell the story of pre-and-post-9-11 New Yorkers. Presented in a gorgeous series of loosely-un-connected songs, the album tells the story of how New York was transformed that day, and how that change continues to affect the people who live there.

“Moments like 9-11,” he says, “those are both our worst and our finest moments. They show what we human beings can be capable of, those moments when we rise up and do unthinkably heroic things for one another. At those times, we glimpse a view of what we can be like all the rest of the time, instead of just rising to the occasion when there’s a big, terrible tragedy. But tragedies do show us what we are really made of.”

Kirwan lives about a quarter-mile away from the World Trade Center, and he was home—reading about the New York Mets, he recalls—when the attacks began.

“The plane came so close over my building I actually ducked my head under the table,” he says. “I thought it was coming into my building. The plane, the first plane, came so close over. It was like, ‘Holy shit!’ I remember going up to roof right afterward, instantly, and I watched the whole thing from there.

“There’s no question that New York changed, in a matter of seconds, on September 11,” Kirwan continues, “and the change isn’t just that two important buildings went down and that three-thousand people died. A certain spirit left the city at that point. Those three-thousand people were young, they were go-getters, out there living the dream of New York. That particular zest that they had, the feeling of adventure and that belief that nothing could curtail them, that spirit had been felt all over New York City—until those planes hit those buildings. When their collective spirit was snuffed out, there was a huge void left behind. I still feel it.”

Immediately following the collapse of the towers, as armies of rescue workers replaced the throngs of day-workers that once filled the streets, Black 47—who normally don’t begin their downtown gigs at Connelly’s Pub until Winter—began to play every Saturday night. At night, while the rest of area was deserted and all the shops and cafés were dark, word spread that there was one show still bringing some life to the devastated downtown. Crowds made up of surviving fire-fighters, cops and rescue workers packed Connelly’s whenever Black 47 played.

“It was really strange,” says Kirwan, “because crossing Times Square was like walking across one of those old west towns where the tumbleweed rolls through it. There was nobody there. So those shows on Saturday nights, they were intense, because people really needed to let their hair down, they needed to try and breathe a little. At the same time, those first few weeks, we didn’t know who was dead and who was alive. We had so many fans who were in the Police Department and the Fire Department. It was just incredibly, incredibly hard, but it was like a mission for us, it was something we felt we had to do. We didn’t know all of our fans names, but we knew a lot of the faces of the regulars who had always come to our shows before 9-11. So the band, we sort of put it together, face by face, and that’s how we eventually figured out which of the regulars were dead. We started paying attention to those people who didn’t show up, and we eventually figured out who was gone.

“And then,” he continues, “as more and more bodies began to be identified and the Times started printing 30 or 40 pictures a day of people who’d been killed, we’d suddenly play these gigs wherre people would come up to us with pictures from the paper and ask us to play James Connelly or Banks of the Hudson, saying, ‘This was my friend’s favorite song. Would you play it?’”

“You know what the worst part was?” Kirwan asks. “The worst part was when we didn’t recognize the face. These were people who had had a really visceral connection with our band, and now they were dead—and we didn’t know who they were. It didn’t feel right. I suppose that’s part of why I won’t see the movie. It’s not that I’m avoiding reliving those days. I don’t need to re-live them. They’re still right here.”

There’s one other reason Kirwan says he will not bring himself to see World Trade Center—and why so many other people seem similarly disinclined to see the film: the war in Iraq.

Explains Kirwan, “One of the awful things about 9-11 is that the opportunity we were given at that moment, the opportunity to change the world for the better, that opportunity was lost—all because we had a venal, unimaginative person as President at that time. Think about that. Right after 9-11, the United States would have done anything to change itself. We would have given up driving one or two days a week. We would have willingly rid ourselves of our complete dependence on foreign oil. We would have changed the way we view and communicate with the rest of the world. A Winston Churchill-type person, had he been in charge of that moment, could have changed the world.

“Those kinds of opportunities come along every 30 or 40 years, and we lost it,” Kirwan says. “That is the true tragedy of 9-11. Our opportunity to turn the world upside down for the better was squandered, because we let this evil person lead us into a war in Iraq, and he used the memory of the victims and heroes of 9-11 to take us there.”

David Templeton takes interesting people to interesting movies in his ongoing quest for the ultimate post-film conversation. This is not a review; rather, it’s a freewheeling, tangential discussion of life, alternative ideas, and popular culture.

="SteveJRogers"]I wonder why Glenn was wearing a 1994 uni and not a retro 86 one?

Only thing I can figure is that she wanted the 69 team to have some measure of reconigtion

Hmmm...

This was because it was given to her on Openening Day '94 and has her name on it.

She's a chick - what does she know (exemption to that statement granted to SK, cooby and silver)? To her a Mets jersey is a Mets jersey

Any more questions, class?

cooby Sep 07 2006 09:39 AM

Okay, a question:

Who are some of these people? (Glen Close I know). They are not big shotty enough for me to know who they are.

MFS62 Sep 07 2006 09:48 AM

Frayed Knot wrote:Poker, for actors and other celebs, is the new cocaine.

Both are excellent ways to blow (you should excuse the expression) a lot of money.

Later

Edgy DC Sep 07 2006 09:49 AM

Bigger than me, anyhoo.

James Blake is supposedly the African-American tennis player in the men's top ten since Arthur Ashe.

Larry Kirwan is the frontman for Black 47, an Irish-American themed Celto-rock-reggae band based in New York that plays Irish Night at Shea most years. He's also a playwright of some note.

Joe Nathan is an All-Star closer in the other Major League.

cooby Sep 07 2006 12:15 PM

Thanks! I feel so sheltered out here in the woods

Willets Point Sep 07 2006 12:18 PM

]This was because it was given to her on Openening Day '94 and has her name on it.

I think its nice that she kept the jersey.

cooby Sep 07 2006 12:21 PM

Wouldn't you?

Willets Point Sep 07 2006 01:23 PM

Yeah. I guess I mean that it's nice that she kept it and remembered it to wear again on a return visit 12 years (and it still fit).

cooby Sep 07 2006 10:34 PM

With her big bucks maybe she just had another one made just like it that fits her now

Frayed Knot Sep 09 2006 01:35 PM

Howie Rose reporting that singer Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople, plus solo work) is a big Willie Randolph fan and has followed his career for a long time now.

I guess he thinks, he thinks, he thinks, he thinks, he thinks, Willie's the best

Edgy DC Sep 09 2006 11:49 PM

You've got to be crazy, to root for a YankeeBut Willie Randolph's the best

old original jb Sep 10 2006 02:14 AM

="metirish"]That's a good one FK, reminds of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon.

"What do you say we take a relaxed attitude towards work and watch thebaseball game? The nye Mets are my favorite squadron."

OlerudOwned Sep 10 2006 02:29 AM

Matt Groening does like picking on the Mets.

-Sorry for the small image, but I'm sure at least a few here have seen the episode.

Edgy DC Sep 12 2006 01:17 PM

Yo La Tengo:The Sporting LifeBy Hal Bienstock

Yo La Tengo is known for its encyclopedic knowledge of music. Just about any song from the last 50 years is fair game to be performed at one of its shows. What’s not as well known is that the band members have an almost-as-encyclopedic knowledge of sports.

The name Yo La Tengo comes from a story about miscommunication between Latin and American outfielders from the 1962 New York Mets. And the title of the band’s latest album—I Am Not Afraid of You And I Will Beat Your Ass—wouldn’t sound out of place on the gridiron, on the hardwood or in the middle of a hockey fight. Harp joined singer/guitarist Ira Kaplan and bassist James McNew to watch a Mets game and talk about sports memories and the places where sports and music intersect.

THE JOCK YEARS

“I have so few positive memories of playing sports that I remember every one of them,” says Kaplan. “I once scored a basket in Saturday rec league where I was alone under the basket. My teammates screamed in horror as I took the uncontested lay up.”

“I left sports for rock music at about 15,” remembers McNew. “I think it had something to do with the emergence of jocks. I liked sports, but at some point I just didn’t have much in common with anyone I was playing with. But I think the Revenge of the Nerd-style jock is prevalent in popular music, too. I think of Limp Bizkit and Staind as the jocks.”

TEAM SPIRIT

“I think there are parallels between being a band and being a sports team,” says Kaplan. “Athletic comparisons and metaphors come up within the band a lot.”

“I had World Cup fever this year,” says McNew. “The whole game is a broken play. It’s all improvisation and guys trying to figure things out while they’re running as fast as they can. I like when we improvise like that when we play music.”

JOCK JAMS

“The first time I heard the Ramones at a stadium, it was a crisis for me because it was so wrong,” says McNew. “But maybe for the first person who played ‘Blitzkreig Bop’ at a sporting event, it was an act of subversion, but it caught on. Maybe he committed suicide over that because he couldn’t believe what he had done.”

“TBS once used our song “Moby Octopad” on its NBA pre-season show,” remembers Kaplan, a die-hard New York Knicks fan. “But they used it as part of a Chicago Bulls montage.”

“The agony!” laughs McNew.

MAKE SOME NOISE!

“The audience reaction for music and sports is different,” explains McNew. “The roar of the crowd in sports literally is a roar. The entertainment roar is more like a ‘Wooo!’

“I appreciate the ‘Woo!’ but I like the roar a lot more,” he says with a smile. “We played a show at the Fillmore in San Francisco where we came out really strong, and when we stopped after the third song, there was something like a roar. I almost started crying. That was a good moment.”

First printed in Sep/Oct 2006

Willets Point Sep 12 2006 03:12 PM

I think I could totally go for a beer with Yo La Tengo.

Mr. Zero Sep 12 2006 05:46 PM

My favorite t shirt of all time is a Yo La Tengo shirt with an image of a Mr Met-like (very much like) character on it. His uniform says NJ instead of NY.

I wouldn't be surprised if they covered "Meet The Mets" at some point. I seem to remember hearing such a thing...

Edgy DC Sep 12 2006 06:07 PM

They cut it on a public radio fundraiser.

Not so great, actually.

Johnny Dickshot Sep 12 2006 06:52 PM

="Frayed Knot"]Howie Rose reporting that singer Ian Hunter (Mott the Hoople, plus solo work) is a big Willie Randolph fan and has followed his career for a long time now.

That's outstanding. That adds to the list of Important Things About Ian Hunter:

1. Whenever I go to the barber I say "Short Back n' Sides."

2. Long before Drew Carey ever discovered him, Jon Datz went to a T-shirt place and had a shirt made up with iron-on letters spelling C-L-E-A-V-E-L-A-N-D R-O-C-K-S. They wouldn't refund his money when he discovered they spelled it wrong.

3. The song most associated with him, "All the Young Dudes" wasn't written by him, but a song he did write but nobody knows about "Once Bitten Twice Shy" got a Grammy nomination for Great White.

4. Lisa Liotta proved her worthiness to attend the 9th grade dinner dance with me because she was possibly the only chick in Oldfield Junior High who knew who Ian Hunter was.

5. He digs the Mets.>

Willets Point Sep 12 2006 07:08 PM

Let the googling of Lisa Liotta begin!

Mr. Zero Sep 12 2006 11:09 PM

]They cut it on a public radio fundraiser.

Not so great, actually.

no doubt one of those WFMU stump the band appearances. they can be forgiven.

if Ian Hunter and band come to your town, do yourself a favor and check'em out. you will not be disappointed. and the dude's like 67 years old. though his core audience tends to skew a wee bit younger, its still kind of interesting to watch a roomful of 50 year old guys singing along with "All The Young Dudes".

had no idea he was a Mets fan, though he resides in Connecticut somewhere.

Frayed Knot Sep 12 2006 11:17 PM

Well Howie - who claims to be a big Ian fan - didn't necc say that Hunter was a Met fan per se so much as a Willie fan for a long while now.So I guess he's now a Met fan by extension. And, yes, he mentioned the living in Connecticut part.

Willie wasn't all that certain who I. H. was when Howie explained all this to him.

Edgy DC Sep 12 2006 11:20 PM

We've met Lisa before.

Frayed Knot Sep 12 2006 11:23 PM

I know Lisa likes Rock and Roll

I was gonna use that one if I were around when the chix thread hit L

Frayed Knot Sep 12 2006 11:37 PM

So, what the hell, I'll run it now:

There's a wango-tango, at the peppermint innI'm gonna be there, Shakin' my thingbe bop a lula, little Peggy Suewe both got company, don't know what to do

But that's alright ... yeah that's OKIn the middle of the nightHeeeeeeere's LISA!!!

Lisa likes rock 'n' roll, she plays it every day.Down by the drugstore, everybody playShe turnin' on the radio, she's shootin' up the stereo.Puttin' on a video, she's sayin' let's go let's goLisa won't marry me, she says she's only four.Her mum don't like me, she says I'm too mature.Down at the disco, I go soloand the girls don't wanna know, I've been too slow.

And that's alright, and that's OK,in the middle of the night.Heeeeeere's LISA!!!

And when you see her, you wish you could be her.Ain't no one can beat her.She goes yeah, yeah, yeahyeah, yeah, "You're my daddy.

Here he remakes "Arthur" in one of those videos with a "send me all your non-working models" casting calls.

I believe the actor who plays the butler is the guy with the beautiful voice from Stir Crazy and Running Man.

metirish Sep 20 2006 09:19 AM

]

At trial, he's Gotti believe!

John A. (Junior) Gotti was rooting for a court victory yesterday, but just 24 hours earlier he was pulling for the Mets to win the pennant.That probably wouldn't have been the case if the Dapper Don was still around, he told the Daily News yesterday.

As a youngster in 1972, Gotti followed the lead of others in his Brooklyn neighborhood and rooted for the Mets.

Then his father got home from prison and found his son's bedroom wall plastered with Mets banners and his son walking around in a Mets cap.

"My father says, 'You know, I've been a Yankees fan since I was a kid,'" Gotti recalled while jurors pored through evidence during the first day of deliberations in his racketeering trial.

"I pulled [the Mets' stuff] down."

His mother told them to leave them up. "You've got to be your own man," she told him.

"Why do they call it 'bunting'? It doesn't bunt. It doesn't do anything. It just hangs there."

MFS62 Oct 06 2006 01:34 PM

Edgy DC wrote:"Why do they call it 'bunting'? It doesn't bunt. It doesn't do anything. It just hangs there."

Bunting refers to the light weight cloth from which flags and other draped things are made. It has become a generic description of those things.

Later

Johnny Dickshot Oct 06 2006 01:36 PM

whoosh

soupcan Oct 06 2006 01:37 PM

Johnny Dickshot wrote:whoosh

As usual.

Yancy Street Gang Oct 06 2006 01:54 PM

soupcan wrote:

="Johnny Dickshot"]whoosh

As usual.

Pretty funny.

Frayed Knot Oct 06 2006 02:00 PM

="metirish"]Is Larry a Mets fan or Dodger fan?,didn't he work for the Brooklyn Dodgers as a kid?

"Flushing, you're on the air"

RealityChuck Oct 09 2006 03:56 PM

If the name is unfamiliar, he's a [url=http://peterdavid.malibulist.com/Bibliography.html]very successful comic book writer[/url], best known for writing "The Incredible Hulk" for several years, as well as dozens of other titles. He's also had several novels out, wrote scripts and novelizations for Babylon Five, had several Star Trek novels, wrote movie scripts, and was author of the column "But I Digress" in the Comics Buyers Guide. He was celebrating a bit on Sunday. :)[/url]

Yancy Street Gang Oct 09 2006 04:00 PM

I had no idea Peter David was a Mets fan. Good for him! He always did seem like an intelligent guy, and he was the first writer in years to take a fresh look at the Hulk and do something daringly different.

cooby wrote: I am surprised that Sid has 2 losses. All I really remember is how he turned Game 7 (?) around

Sadly, I was at both Sid losses. Game 4 against Scott in 86, where he didn't pitch terribly but gave up a couple HRs and took the loss. And Game 5 in 88. I sat in the same box as Tony Roberts, the actor, watching the Dodgers jump on him for an early 6-run lead._________________Don't drink and dress.

I once rode up a Shea escalator w/Tony Roberts. We should add him to our 'Met-loving Big Shots' thread.

Willets Point Oct 09 2006 04:18 PM

]I sat in the same box as Tony Roberts, the actor, watching the Dodgers jump on him for an early 6-run lead.

Well of course the Dodgers jumped on Tony Roberts for an early lead. He's an actor not a pitcher. And apparently he's pitching from the box seats. I expect all those runs scored on walks.

TheOldMole Oct 09 2006 09:38 PM

I once rode up an elevator at the Garden with Ed Sullivan.

ScarletKnight41 Oct 09 2006 09:51 PM

On our first trip to St. Louis in 1993, my daughter and I rode in an elevator with Bob Murphy.

And when I was younger, I once shared an elevator in Toronto with Colonel Sanders.

G-Fafif Oct 10 2006 04:35 PM

At the Garden last night, Barbra Streisand reminded her audience she still considers herself a New Yorker and then, according to Newsday, added...

GO METS!

Go Babs.

Edgy DC Oct 10 2006 04:44 PM

Yeah, maybe.

soupcan Oct 10 2006 04:55 PM

I heard she also offended half her audience when in response to some guy in the crowd admonishing her about a Bush diatribe she said 'Fuck You!'

Babs needs to realize that her audience has aged a bit and while they may have blue hair they don't necessarily appreciate blue language.

G-Fafif Oct 10 2006 05:45 PM

soupcan wrote:I heard she also offended half her audience when in response to some guy in the crowd admonishing her about a Bush diatribe she said 'Fuck You!'

Babs needs to realize that her audience has aged a bit and while they may have blue hair they don't necessarily appreciate blue language.

But we do appreciate the orange and blue language.

soupcan Oct 10 2006 07:03 PM

G-Fafif wrote:But we do appreciate the orange and blue language.

'Tis true.

RealityChuck Oct 10 2006 10:17 PM

Yancy Street Gang wrote:I had no idea Peter David was a Mets fan. Good for him! He always did seem like an intelligent guy, and he was the first writer in years to take a fresh look at the Hulk and do something daringly different.

I was at a science fiction convention over this weekend (helping run it, as a matter of fact), and Sunday morning I was gloating with another Mets fan (Ian Randal Strock, a science fiction author and editor) when Peter overheard us. He came over and joined in, playing the part of a frustrated MFY fan and shaking his fist and shouting, "If only we spent more money on free agents!" Peter also shares my feelings about sabermetrics and that [url=http://www.sff.net/people/rothman/alien.htm]Alien is one of the worst SF films of all time[/url].

He's a fun person to be around, and a great convention guest: you can put him on any panel and he'll be magnificent.

Valadius Oct 17 2006 02:33 AM

Jon Stewart threw out the first pitch at one of our recent games. They played footage of it, including Willie teasing him about his throw, on tonight's episode of "The Daily Show".

="Valadius"]Jon Stewart threw out the first pitch at one of our recent games. They played footage of it, including Willie teasing him about his throw, on tonight's episode of "The Daily Show".

Stewart threw out the first pitch Friday night and, how could I have forgotten this, Hilary Swank was sitting in the VIP seats wearing a black Mets cap. Couldn't find a picture of her at the game but she looked great. She walked down the aisle past my seat and I said 'Hilary, nice to see you, big fan.' She turned, flashed me a gorgeous movie star smile, said 'thanks' and kept walking.

I'm trying to find that footage - Stewart gave it to himself pretty well.

He also said that he'd do it again in a heartbeat, despite the embarrassment :)

Johnny Dickshot Oct 17 2006 11:00 AM

]Hilary Swank was sitting in the VIP seats wearing a black Mets cap. Couldn't find a picture of her at the game but she looked great. She walked down the aisle past my seat and I said 'Hilary, nice to see you, big fan.' She turned, flashed me a gorgeous movie star smile, said 'thanks' and kept walking.

You shoulda complimented her for her role in 'Beverly Hills 90210.'

"Hey, whose schlong was bigger -- Brandon or Dylan?"

HahnSolo Oct 17 2006 11:11 AM

^^^Come on JD, you've gotta know that she was gettin' it from Steve Sanders on 90210.

Edgy DC Oct 17 2006 11:13 AM

Bullshit. You see Hillary Swank, you praise her for taking on the noble but hopeless task of trying to get the Karate Kid franchise off of life support.

For a moment there, she was St. Jude of the Movies.

soupcan Oct 17 2006 11:35 AM

Edgy DC wrote:Bullshit. You see Hillary Swank, you praise her for taking on the noble but hopeless task of trying to get the Karate Kid franchise off of life support.

Let me tell you something - that smile of hers was such a dazzler I was lucky I said anything before she flashed it. Had she hit me with it first I would have simply drooled and babbled.

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgI2aiLeqe0]Jon Stewart on the Daily Show about throwing out the first pitch at the Mets game[/url]

metirish Oct 19 2006 10:40 AM

Matt Dillon

Edgy DC Oct 19 2006 10:44 AM

Wow. Uberdorky.

HahnSolo Oct 19 2006 11:32 AM

Looks like he was in the tunnel and someone said, you should have a Met hat...put this on.

MFS62 Oct 19 2006 12:15 PM

Jon Stewart had John Ashcroft on as his guest last night.

Since Stewart is from New York and Ashcroft is from Missouri, Stewart made this proposition:

"If the St. Louis Cardinals win tonight, we will send you a new free Daily Show t-shirt. If the New York Mets win tonight, I get to go to Heaven."

Later

metirish Nov 02 2006 08:07 PM

NBA head bottle washer David Stern is a Mets fan, today on the WFAN Russo asked him about that, Stern joked that he's not been a fan since Seaver got traded,then talked about the 69 team and thought the 06 Mets were very exciting.

Elster88 Nov 02 2006 08:18 PM

Irish for someone who hates those guys you sure listen to them a lot.

metirish Nov 02 2006 08:22 PM

LOL...no I don't really,I was home today so i had them on YES..some evenings I'll catch the last hour of the show...

Elster88 Nov 02 2006 08:46 PM

HahnSolo wrote:Looks like he was in the tunnel and someone said, you should have a Met hat...put this on.

A LONG LIFE – At 105, Anna Harchar can still smile when she wants to. She turnes 106 on Nov. 5

If you ask politely, Anna Harchar might just give you a number to play in the lottery --- although for the most part this 105-year-old Bayonne woman spends her time praying, chanting old Slovak folk songs and cheering on the Mets, her favorite baseball team.

While she also likes to play the slot machines in Atlantic City, she had to stop several years ago at 102 after two falls caused her family members to fear she might suffer serious injury if she continued.

So now, she prays, chants and watches TV.

"She likes to watch movies, Judging Amy, and Wheel of Fortune but she watches just about anything," said Anna's daughter, Betty Nelson, in anticipation of Anna's 106th birthday on Nov. 5.

In season, Anna loves to watch ice-skating, too.

Anna was born in 1900 in Slovakia, one of six siblings, three brothers and two sisters, all of whom she has outlived.

She still feels the ache of losing her baby sister, Veronica, who died at six months old from pneumonia.

Sometimes, when she is in the mood, she talks about her upbringing. Betty knows most of the stories, though she says time has a way of making her forget some of the details.

Shahazan Richardson, from the Visiting Home Maker Service, who has been attending to Anna for five years, says she's heard the stories, too.

"Anna's father was a blacksmith," Richardson recalled.

A victim of persecution

Anna grew up in a troubled time and a trouble place.

As a Slovak prior to World War I, she and her people were often victims of persecution. Slovakia was a part of the Greater Hungarian Kingdom, and Anna's people often suffered at the hands of their Hungarian rulers in what historians called Magyarization.

The Magyars, or ethnic Hungarians, dominated the numerous nationalities around them during the years prior to World War I. Slovaks were forced to use the Hungarian language and adopt the Hungarian culture. During Anna's early life Slovak schools and institutions were ordered closed, the Slovak libraries, historical and artistic collections as well as financial instructions were raided and stripped. In some cases, the Hungarian authorities, in their endeavor to suppress the Slovak nationality, went even to the extent of taking away Slovak children to be brought up as Magyars, and forbade them to learn their language and their history in school and church. While more than two million Slovaks, who were predominantly Catholic, clung to their language and Slavic customs, most of the church leaders and churches that served Slovaks as social centers forced to adopt the Magyar language and teach Magyar culture.

"My mother had to attend a Hungarian schools because Czechoslovakia was under the rule of Austrian/Hungary," Betty said. "She told me if anyone was caught talking Slovak at any time they would be punished."

Anna comes to America

Although the end of World War I led to the formation of the nation of Czechoslovakia, this was an uncomfortable union since Slovakia was largely agriculture and did not always fit well with its more industrial partners. At 15 years old, Anna along with her mother worked for brothers who owned a lot of land in Slovakia.

Even though now part of a larger nation, Slovaks were not free of Hungarian violence. In 1919, Slovakia was attacked by the Hungarian Soviet Republican turning about one third of Slovakia, for a short time, into the Slovak Soviet Republic. The country was constantly under threat from Hungary and Germany after that.

"Momma wanted in the worst way to come to America to live with her older sister, Mary," Betty said.

So around 1920, Anna left her family and traveled to France, where from one of the port cities she set sail to America.

She arrived at Ellis Island on June 6, 1921.

"She then was given a thorough physical examination and found to be in good health," Betty said. "My mother said she would never go back to Czechoslovakia and to this day she never did."

From Ellis Island, Anna traveled by bus to McAdoo, Penn. where she took up residence with her sister Mary and her family. For the next two years, she worked at a housekeeper for the pastor of a Russian Church there, and for a short time she also worked at a seamstress.

Came to Bayonne in 1923

Anna moved to Bayonne in 1923, taking up residence with a Slovak family who were friends of her mother and father in the old country.

"I really admire my mother for what she did," Betty said. "She left her family and came to America, and then went out on her own."

Anna worked at restaurant in Bayonne and as a housekeeper for two local families.

A devout Catholic, Anna became a regular parishioner at St. Joseph's Church where --- while attending a social function in May 1924 --- she met her future husband, George.

"She was introduced to him by the woman with whom she was living," Betty said. "She ran away from him at first. But something must have attracted her to him because she went back."

George was born and raised in Bayonne, working for J & L Steel Barrel Company on Hook Road.

They dated for 14 months and were married in July 1925. Their first child, Stephen was born the following April, followed by a daughter, Anna, in May 1928, and Betty in March 1937.

A few months later, on July 8, 1937, Anna became a citizen of the United States, fulfilling a dream.

During World War II, Anna --- like millions of American women --- went to work in the defense industry at Solar Manufacturing Company in Bayonne, which manufactured airplane parts. The firm, which operated from 1942 to 1945, was located on Avenue A and 23rd Street where the Post Road Garden senior citizen building is located today. Anna worked sorting parts.

"After World War II ended my mother worked as a housekeeper for three families here in Bayonne," Betty said. "She always kept herself busy."

Tragedy struck on Sept. 24, 1959 when her husband died.

"The happiest time of her life was spent with my father," Betty said. "He was a good man and he died too young."

She never gave up

Perhaps other women might have given up. Six months later, she went to work at night for a cleaning company in New York City until 1969 when two men tried to mug her on the street. As with every other aspect of her life, Anna --- a very small woman --- refused to be a victim and chased after the men.

While Betty still thinks this was an unwise move, she admired her mother's bravery.

But it was a lesson on modern times that convinced Anna, who was then almost 69 that it was time to retire.

In retirement, she has kept busy.

She loved going down to Atlantic City. Her last trip there was to celebrate her 102nd birthday. She enjoyed playing the slot machines

She has been an avid Mets fan since the early 1980s and has cheered them on every year since with one exception.

Of all the players, she took a particular shine to Mets catcher Mike Piazza --- who she called "Mikey Boy."

"When the Mets traded him to San Diego, she could only see him when his team played the Mets," Betty said. "She was very excited when he played. In one game she kept saying 'Mikey Boy' and she was thrilled when he hit two home runs."

She often watched Mets games with her son, Steve, with whom she lived until about two years ago. When Steve passed on, Anna came to live with Betty.

Over the years, Anna has always been a devout Catholic and is the oldest parishioner of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Bayonne. Although no longer able to attend daily mass, she watches mass on television every day, and every First Friday of the month, Rev. Monsignor Edward M. Matash from the parish comes to the house to give her communion.

While she has outlived nearly all of her family, her grandson Tom Nelson still comes back from Clifton to visit her on weekends.

She loves flavored water, pierogies, linguini with garlic and oil, and eggplant with spaghetti, and she attributes her long life to God, eating healthy and hard work.

Oddly enough, her favorite president, Bill Clinton, came to Bayonne to celebrate his 60th birthday on Oct. 29.

And, of course, Anna likes to pick lottery numbers for those closest to her. During the interview she offered several numbers for the daily pick. Has she ever picked a winner?

"Yes, she has," Richardson said. "A couple of years ago, she picked the winning numbers for me."

Although Anna can speak perfect English, she mostly talks in her native tongue, chanting old folk songs she learned as a child, as if in these later years, she was making up for the silence imposed on her by the Hungarians in her youth.

And perhaps in fighting the oppression of her youth by keeping her native language alive, she extends her old life, praying and chanting and rooting for the Mets.

metirish Nov 06 2006 09:17 PM

That's just brilliant, I love her...how do you find stuff like that Edgy?

A big Happy Birthday to you Ms.Harchar.

cooby Nov 06 2006 09:52 PM

That's a great story!

TheOldMole Nov 07 2006 02:52 AM

Heartwarming. Good for her in everything in her life, including rooting for Mikey.

Rockin' Doc Nov 07 2006 09:00 PM

Nice article. Thanks for finding and posting it Edgy.

Edgy DC Nov 07 2006 09:35 PM

="TheOldMole"]Heartwarming. Good for her in everything in her life, including rooting for Mikey.

That's MikeyBoy. The story, however, says she bailed on the Mets this year, because they didn't keep the guy whose face is on her pajamas.

Edgy DC Nov 15 2006 02:09 PM

Jonathan Salent, of Bloomberg News and president of the National Press club:

Say hello to Bloomberg's Jonathan Salant (also president of the National Press Club).

How many suits do you own? Six, including the one I was married in. I expanded my collection dramatically when I became press club president and began appearing on C-SPAN.

What word do you routinely misspell? canceled. I always add the second L, like in cancellation.

Did you see Brokeback Mountain? No. As the father of an 9-year-old son, I don't see any movines that aren't rated G. But if you ask me if I've seen Looney Tunes: Back in Action or The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, the answer is yes.

Did you see The Da Vinci Code? See the preceding answer.

What's the name of your cell phone ring? The one that came with the phone at the factory.

What time did you get up this morning? 7:15 a.m.

When did you last cry and why? I remember crying when my father died five years ago. I'm sure I cried since then, but I don't remember the time or the place.

Which of the seven deadly sins are you? They don't teach the seven deadly sins in Hebrew School.

Beach, city or country? City.

Would you say you're cute? Pretty? Hot? Beautiful? I plead the Fifth, but my son, Izzy, is very cute.

What color is your bathroom? White.

How many emails do you receive a day, roughly? At least 100, including, alas, spam.

What's your opinion of New York City? As a native New Yorker, I continue to believe that it's the center of the universe, as in the earth revolves around the sun and the sun revolves around New York.

What's your favorite letter? J, as in Jonathan and my wife Joan. I is a close second because of Izzy.

What single person played the biggest role / had the biggest influence on your journalism career? Bob Shaw, former Miami Herald Tallahassee reporter. In 1980, when I was at the Herald, he did this terrific story about how Bill Gunther, the state insurance commissioner, was funding his U.S. Senate campaign in large part through contributions from the insurance industry. I've been matching campaign donations with the officials and lawmakers who regulatethe givers ever since.

Have you ever downloaded a podcast? If so, which one? No.

Who's your all-time favorite American Idol candidate? I have never watched American Idol. After all. Lisa de Morales says in the Washington Post that she writes about it so you don't have to watch, and I take her advice.

When's the last time you volunteered? Where? April 30. My synagogue, B'nai Israel Congregation in Rockville, has an annual Mitzvah Day. I joined my son's third grade class in making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for residents of a homeless shelter.

Who is your favorite active journalist? Al Hunt. He has helped make my employer, Bloomberg News, a terrific place to work.

What did you have for breakfast? A package of Nature Valley maple sugar granola bars.

What's your favorite item of clothing? My official Mets cap and uniform, with SALANT on the back of the jersey, courtesy of my week at fantasy camp for my 40th birthday.

What one toiletry item could you not live without? toothbrush.

If you could have one superpower, which one would it be? Superhearing, so I could find out and report about what really goes on behind closed doors.

Better role model: GIJoe? Barbie? GI Joe.

Edgy DC Nov 17 2006 10:28 AM

No, I don't know who she is. but the Chicago Tribune seems to think that she's a big shot.

"No, but my grandmother lived in Flushing, Queens, most of my life. So I definitely have a Queens connection. I’m a Mets fan, my grandfather took us to games all the time.

"I came out to LA about six or seven years ago, give or take. I’m a member of a theater company in New York, it’s really fantastic. And it’s great to go home, I miss my family so much. When I’m getting too LA-ed out, I go visit them."

For me the limit is about a week. Then I’m LA-ed out.

"It’s true [laughs]. Now that I’ve sort of made more of a life here for myself, it’s gotten a lot easier. I fell in love, I met a great guy. And one of my best friends is out here, he’s from Queens. But now that I have a support system everything seems a whole lot brighter here in LA.

So you’ve been auditioning in LA for at least six years now. How many times have you auditioned to be a maid?

"Oh God. I don’t even know if I could count, to be perfectly honest. And can I tell you – a maid named Maria. They haven’t even gotten to the point where they can expand at least on the name. If I’m going to be a maid, can she at least be Blanca or Julia? Something else.

"Of course, in saying that, there have been times when I’ve played a maid when it’s been an amazing role. I did an HBO pilot that Michael Apted directed that, it didn’t go anywhere. I played a maid in that, and it was a really groovy part and a groovy idea. But many times it is, I’m the gross mistress/maid, the maid who’s trying to steal the husband. I’m always trying to steal someone’s husband, when I’m not a maid."

And very spicy, right?

"Yeah [laughs]. Feisty is usually the word I get, being Latina."

I guess, being Irish, I’m always seeing the Irish who are drunk and getting into fights, mostly for no good reason.

"Well, it’s funny you should say that, my father’s Puerto Rican and my mother’s Irish. But nobody ever casts me as anything other than Latin. Wait, that’s not true, I did a play Garry Marshall wrote and directed, and I played an Italian girl and Hector Elizondo, another Puerto Rican from New York, was a German guy. Doing theater with them was one of the best working experiences of my life. It was fun, Hector and I would look at each other and go, ‘Wow, look at us, two Nuyoricans up here, doing our thing.’ It was great."

I can’t speak to its authenticity, not having grown up Latino, but the family we’re seeing on “Ugly Betty” seems pretty different than what we usually see of that community.

"It’s true."

Did you think you’d never see that on network TV?

"I was beginning to think I wouldn’t, but just judging from me and my friends, [it was like], ‘When are they going to start representing us? How much of a majority do we have to be to get some representation on TV?’ So it’s incredible to see America up there, just the heart and soul of the show, and she’s just the most beautiful, confident person ever. Half the time she’s giving me advice on life and love and I’m sitting there, going ‘I’m supposed to be the older sister!’

"I’m not so much surprised by the success of Ugly Betty as I am feeling so blessed by it. I’ve just known that we’re out there. And women like Salma are finally being [given a chance to produce]. She’s the most powerful person I’ve ever met. She’s just so confident and believes in what she does with such a passion, it rubs off on everyone around here. That’s translated to this show."

Do you think it depicts Hispanic family life with any truth? It seems to me the show doesn’t really condescend to these people, or mock them, except maybe in little ways here and there.

"Yeah. I remember when I first read the script, and I thought, 'Oh my God, this is us. This is my family.' This is us… running around, yelling at each other, hugging each other. We’re effusive people. Everybody’s in each other’s business in my family, all the time [laughs]. They want you to be independent and want you to grow up, but they are so superprotective at the same time."

And Betty and Hilda give each other as good as they get. It’s not really from anger, but they just don’t back down from each other.

"It’s great because we get to put our two cents in. I mean, America has five sisters. And I have a sister who’s 16. We don’t tiptoe around each other and braid each other’s hair, you know [laughs]. We get into it. And the thing is, that those are the people you can be most honest with, emotionally, verbally, and physically too.

"It was funny because at first America and I would be doing a scene and we would sort of like pinch each other or poke each other and the director would be like, ‘Do you guys really do that?’ ‘Yeah, of course!’ It’s part of being a family. You always mess with each other.

"And I think Hilda can learn from Betty, she’s always trying to make sure that Betty doesn’t go out there and get hurt. But she sees her going out there and having this incredible journey and maybe she’ll think that she can do that too."

It seems Hilda’s had her own problems, and is a little afraid of what’s beyond Queens.

"Absolutely. I definitely think there’s an element of that. I have cousins who were born and raised and married within the same four blocks. One thing that I love about that, is that when my little cousin walks down the street, everybody will pop their head out the door and say, ‘Where are you going? Does your papa know?’ I love that insulated community. On the other hand there’s something to be said for having the chutzpah to explore new things. And Betty has the best of both worlds."

I think they’re afraid for her, but at the same time, they see that she’s got something to offer and she would probably be unhappy not trying to broaden her horizons.

"That’s true. And that’s how I think family is, when push comes to shove, they’re going to protect you and warn you of the dangers, but ultimately they’re going to be out there and say, ‘We got your back, do what you want to do.’ … It really allows you to be yourself to the fullest, if you have the support of your family.

"My family couldn’t be more supportive. They’re worried and they’re always in my business, and my mother does send me grad-school applications every now and again [laughs]."

Another interesting thing about the show is, on TV a lot of the characters are upper middle class. They’re doctors, lawyers. They’ve made it.

"Right. They’re architects."

And Betty’s probably more like most Americans – she went to Queens College. And nothing against architects, but she’s not an architect.

^Boobies!

Yeah. I love that the issue of health care is in the show. And the issue of immigration. I think we’re handling it pretty well, because of it’s such a touchy issue right now. And there’s a gay son. This is real. This is what people are dealing with every single day – they can’t afford to get their pills. Or, ‘He’s gay? Blinders, blinders.’ It’s like, not judging, it’s just not existing.

But still, her family is so solid that you really understand where her confidence and perseverance come from.

"Definitely. Some people succeed in spite of [their family], but for me, it’s been a great experience to be so supported by my family and not be second-guessed in my choices. And that’s one of the wonderful things about Betty is that she’s able to go out there and we really believe she can face people like Wilhemina and Amanda and Marc because she’s got people at home who just think she’s the bees knees.

But so many shows depict such awful father-son, mother-daughter, parent-child relationships. Not that that’s a bad thing dramatically, in fact it's often fodder for good drama, but still, that’s not the experience of many people.

"Yeah, I mean, I’ve gotten in fights with my mother when I was 16, where it was bad for a little while. But ultimately it’s never been like that. I don’t relate to that angst-y kid who hates their parents because they were horrible. It’s just not my life and it’s not the life of a lot of my friends."

What has been the mood on the set, as you guys have progressed from underdog to breakout hit?

"It’s just a survival instinct [at first], when you do a TV show, ‘Well, we’ll see.’ When we did the pilot, it was supposed to be airing on Fridays, which is like a no-man’s land for television, on the one hand, but on the other hand, there’s not a lot of competition, so hopefully we’ll be able to get a couple of good seasons out of it, even though nobody will probably watch it. But we’re going to be the best show on Friday night! It was that kind of thing.

"Then people started seeing the show and we started getting this feedback, this is the best show, from critics, I guess. Everybody was walking around like, ‘Really? Is this happening?’ It’s a total shock. Every week, you think, this will be the week where [the audience] is like, ‘Psych! Just kidding!’ But every week we’re getting more and more viewers and more love from people, and more response. And it’s just been incredible.

"When they did a spoof of ‘Ugly Betty’ on ‘Saturday Night Live,' I knew we made it. I called America immediately and I was like, ‘Are you watching this?’ She’s screaming, ‘Yes! It’s hysterical!’

What’s cool about the ABC Thursday lineup now is that it’s light – not just in that it’s not dark on all the sets, but it’s just tonally lighter than so many other shows on TV. It makes a lot of sense with “Grey’s Anatomy.”

"I agree. We’re so blessed. I love ‘Grey’s’ so much. Now we get to go to parties every once in a while, and the ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ cast is there and I’m like, ‘Oh my God! There’s McDreamy! There’s so and so.’ Everybody’s like, ‘Calm down. You’re on a hit show. You do know that, right?’"

One thing that you can tell about both ‘Grey’s’ and ‘Betty,’ is that both shows have a lot of women on the writing staffs. You can really tell.

"We have so many women writers, it’s unbelievable. We go into table reads and we introduce ourselves every time. We have more women writers than men. And we’ve had five women directors, maybe more. And we’ve got three executive producers [who are female]. That is such a truth. Walking around there, you just feel so understood and supported.

"When I’ve worked on other shows, I’ve been afraid to speak up and to voice an opinion – you don’t want to get fired. And I hate being patted on the head – [in a patronizing voice] ‘Uh huh, that’s great.’ It’s my own fault that I haven’t been able to break through that, but this is an opportunity for me to be able to talk about anything and it’s cool. I can talk about getting married and wanting to have a kid and not feel like I’m going to be ostracized and misunderstood and fired. It’s the first time in my career I’ve felt free enough to talk about it with anyone in a position of power and not feel like I’m going to be fired."

What’s coming up for Hilda?

"Justin’s dad stays around for a little while. I don’t really know what else is in store for Hilda. She messes up a bit, she definitely gets everyone in trouble a bit in the next episode. I think she’s turning out maybe to not be the best judge of character. I would hope that maybe she would learn a little bit about that.

"I want to see what happens when Hilda starts dating. She loves her job, she loves her family, that seems to be the one thing that’s missing."

You talked a bit about Justin’s character before. It seems clear to me that he’s gay, but I like how they haven’t really made a big deal about it. It’s just, “That’s Justin.”

"Yeah. I love that about the show, actually. I just think that what the writers are giving us is an opportunity to breathe. Everything doesn’t happen immediately. This family is trying to figure everything out, let alone [that]. As long as Justin’s happy, and healthy, and happy with himself and not getting abused and tortured in school, they’re sort of like, ‘That’s who he is, he’s happy with who he is, we’re happy with him. So why stir up something that doesn’t necessarily need it?’

Joe Crowley, Democratic boss, says: "I’m a Met fan, born and raised in Woodside, in the shadow of Shea. But unlike my brother, who’s a fan of the Mets and the Red Sox—he hates the Yankees at all costs—I root for the Yankees if they’re in the playoffs and the Mets aren’t. I’m a city guy."

Shocking.

G-Fafif Dec 18 2006 01:11 PM

"When Mike Piazza was on the Mets in '99 and having a terrible slump, that's what their scout would yell at him to lift his spirits."

Thus spake Meat Loaf in a recent Rolling Stone Q&A to explain why his new album is called The Monster Is Loose.

One is left to wonder, a little, whether Loaf and Piazza share such a special bond as rock guys that Mike let him in on a heretofore unknown anecdote or, as is much more likely, he's twisting the better known story, that of third base coach John Stearns shouting it spontaneously into the Fox wired-for-sound mic after Mike broke out of a slump during the 2000 NLCS.

Close enough for rock 'n' roll.

Yancy Street Gang Dec 18 2006 01:17 PM

I remember that vividly. John Stearns was saying, "The monster is out of his cage!"

I loved that. It was nice, while enjoying the Mets in the postseason, to suddenly flash back to two decades earlier and the days of the Bad Dude.

I liked having Stearns and Mookie in uniform for the Mets success. Hopefully I'll get the same kind of kick out of having HoJo around next season.

Johnny Dickshot Dec 18 2006 01:17 PM

Meat's a MFY fan, by the way. Completely gay for Mickey Mantle.

Yancy Street Gang Dec 18 2006 01:18 PM

I guess that's why Mr. Loaf used Phil Rizzuto instead of Bob Murphy on that song. (Was it Paradise by the Dashboard Lights?)

G-Fafif Dec 18 2006 01:28 PM

Loaf insisted to Mets Weekly that he came to Shea more than the other New York stadium during the Seaver years because he was so darn great. I wasn't buying it.

"Paradise By The Dashboard Light" may have been well served by the voice of Murph (what wouldn't be?), but Rizzuto acquitted himself nicely.

Edgy DC Dec 18 2006 01:33 PM

Not sure if it would've been within to boundaries of Murph's dignity.

ScarletKnight41 Jan 03 2007 10:35 PM

She's not a celebrity in the traditional sense, but Channel 11 News reports that this young woman is a big Mets fan -

]Double-Lung Transplant Recipient Leaves HospitalJennifer Lanzaro All Smiles And With New Lease On LifeImage

John SlatteryReporting

(CBS) NEW YORK When Jennifer Lanzaro was rolled out of Mt. Sinai Hospital in a wheelchair Wednesday, it was the first time she'd been outdoors since October.

"It feels cool but good," she said.

The 29-year-old woman received a double-lung transplant on her birthday, Nov. 12. Wearing a protective hospital mask, she said, "It's very good to go home, very good."

For Jennifer and her parents, who live in East Meadow, it was a major milestone. Said her father, Charlie Lanzaro: "I can't believe it. I'm very happy."

Jennifer's Mother, Kathy, said she has been through the emotional wringer.

"I'm worn down in that I'm still so scared, but elated that we're here," she said.

Jennifer and her family were scared because last June, Jennifer's recently married younger sister, Marissa Bishop, 27, died of cystic fibrosis. For Marissa a transplant wasn't possible.

Jennifer, who suffered from the genetic illness since childhood, found that her condition grew critical in October. Cystic fibrosis, a disease which clogs the lungs with mucous, afflicts some 30,000 Americans. All that would save her was as double-lung transplant. As she waited for a donor, Jennifer slipped into a coma. Doctors at Mt. Sinai believed she was days away from death

Then, on Nov. 11, lungs became available from a family whose loved one died in Brooklyn.

"Very grateful to them for it," Jennifer said.

Jennifer believes her sister was the force behind the life-giving donation.

"She always had to get me the best birthday present, and I got my lungs on my birthday, so they're from her," she said.

Jennifer is able to walk on her own. She said she's able to go approximately 200 feet before feeling tired. She said before the surgery the cystic fibrosis would cause terrible coughing and shortness of breath, painful ailments that are now gone.

As the young woman goes home, facing a regimen of heavy medicine and physical therapy, she will resume a life more fortunate than that of her sister.

Yeah, we should have a thread for such folks. They're better than big shots.

The New York Post wrote:"The Mets didn't win the World Series this year because I wasn't at the playoff games cheering them on," Lanzaro, 29, told The Post at Mount Sinai Medical Center in her first bedside interview.

Jets tight end Chris Baker grew up in Queens and is a lifelong Mets fan. But what about those Yankee hats he's always wearing? Well, Baker said he wears them because they match his outfits and he cannot find Mets hats in red, green, yellow and bejeweled black as readily as he can find Yankee caps. Baker is so color-coordinated he once wore a Ronnie Lott throwback Jets jersey ... just because it matched his green sneakers.

Yancy Street Gang Jan 05 2007 08:44 AM

He's an idiot.

If he's a Mets fan who needs to wear a red baseball cap, there are alternatives. He can get a red cap from a Japanese or minor league team.

G-Fafif Jan 05 2007 03:53 PM

Noticed the Jets' Eric Barton resplendent in traditional blue Mets cap in the postgame media chat last Sunday. More than makes up for that penalty that nearly screwed the Jets over against San Diego two years ago (also known as the night we got Beltran).

Edgy DC Jan 08 2007 11:23 AM

Celebrity chef Tom Colicchio:

Similar looks, different tastesBaseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. and chef Tom Colicchio face offBy Rebecca LoganSpecial to The SunOriginally published January 7, 2007

He does not!

To some people, the resemblance is uncanny.

Other folks just don't see it.

But whether it is his bald head, his piercing eyes or maybe a combination of both, there's just something about reality TV star Chef Tom Colicchio that reminds many viewers of one of Harford County's favorite sons.

"I've been told over and over again, 'Hey, you look a lot like Cal Ripken,'" said Colicchio, the head judge on Top Chef, the Bravo channel's cooking competition show.

Colicchio said he can sort of see where those people are coming from.

"It's funny, our hairlines kind of disappeared about the same time," he said.

Ripken -- a former Aberdeen High School student and Baltimore Orioles legend -- said he's never seen Top Chef but would like to meet Colicchio someday.

Both men were good enough sports to field a few questions (Colicchio by phone from New York and Ripken via e-mail) designed to seek out other possible similarities. Consider it a whimsical diversion while the baseball world awaits Tuesday's announcement of whether Ripken is voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Tom Colicchio The head judge on television's "Top Chef" is also an award-winning chef who has opened restaurants such as Gramercy Tavern and Craft in New York City. Born: August 1962 in Elizabeth, N.J.

Describe your coaching style.

"In my kitchen, it is very supportive ... I'm coaching from experience but I don't want to just tell them, 'Listen to me.' You have to gain respect ... You have to have them buy into it and want to improve. Some people don't want to be coached. It's about gaining trust."

What's the No. 1 quality an aspiring chef can possess?

"Passion. Whether it's sports or cooking or anything else, ability can only get you so far. [Those who succeed] are the ones there after practice shooting free throws or ... taking extra swings."

And the worst characteristic for an aspiring chef?

"A guy who is really good and doesn't practice."

Other than your own, what's your favorite restaurant?

"I don't know that I have one single favorite restaurant. Maybe Michel Bras in Laguiole, France."

What's your favorite sports team?

"I grew up a Washington Redskins fan, but don't watch much football anymore.

And baseball?

All right, I'll put it out there. I was a Mets fan growing up as a kid. And for some reason I became an L.A. Lakers fan -- those have really been my big three."

Can you play baseball?

"Funny story: There was a woman who wrote a book about a bunch of different chefs and somehow she got some of the interviews mixed up. It says in the book that I grew up having dreams of being a great baseball player and that I played in college. But that wasn't me. ... I played [through] freshman year in high school. I was OK, never great."

Cal Ripken Jr.The former Baltimore Oriole who played a record 2,632 consecutive games is a major force in Aberdeen through the Aberdeen IronBirds and the Cal Ripken World Series. Born: August 1960 in Havre de Grace.

Describe your coaching style.

"In all of our teaching we live by the credo, 'Celebrate the individual.' What this means is that everyone does things a little differently and there isn't just one way to have success, whether that is with hitting or, I would imagine, cooking."

What is the No. 1 characteristic an aspiring ball player can possess?

"A love and passion for the game."

What's the worst characteristic they can have?

"Indifference."

What is your favorite restaurant?

"There are so many all across the country. Near our home is the Oregon Grille that I love, and out in Napa Valley there is a place called The French Laundry that is amazing. [Wife] Kelly and I also really enjoy Rosa Mexicana in Washington, D.C., and New York."

What is your favorite sports team?

"Guess. Seriously, I am a hometown guy. I grew up loving the Orioles and still root for them as hard as ever. I am also a big Ravens fan and go to almost all of their home games."

Can you cook?

"Not really. I make good pancakes. ... At least that is what my kids tell me."

Dr. Sharon Ryan, chair of the department of philosophy at West Virginia University,

From SI:

]As a child attending New York Mets games when the team's manager was the philosopher Yogi Berra, Ryan was already interested in man's most mystifying issues, like life, death and the infield fly rule.Now she's asking Big Questions of Mountaineers athletes, coaches and fans (and posting their answers at thequestion.blogs.wvu.edu).

Some ot the questions answered by Mountaineer philosophers:

] I asked the Tuesday Night Philosophers to weigh in on some of sports' most renowned thinkers, among them Satchel Paige, who said, "You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them."Matthias Callison, a senior, pointed out that Paige had offered a view popular in the philosophy of religion: You can't ap¬preciate good without experiencing evil.I asked for an exegesis of Mickey Rivers, who said, "I don't get upset over things I can't control because if I can't control them, there's no use getting upset. And I don't get upset over things I can control, because if I can control them, what's the use in getting upset?"Ryan said, "Rivers's view rings loudly of the Stoic philosophers." (They were masters of their own emotions.)And what to make of this from Shaquille O'Neal: "I'd like to be known as the Big Aristotle. It was Aristotle who said excel¬lence is not a singular act but a habit."Hinton, the Aristotle expert, noted that the Greek word arete—which means excellence in performing any function— "is a state rather than a capacity. It re¬quires training to ensure that it is sta¬ble. It operates more like a habit. This is rather a strange thing for Shaq to say considering that his former coach Phil Jackson contends that Shaq was the only player he has coached who was not a 'worker.' "

metirish Jan 19 2007 10:56 AM

Dwight Freeney - Mets fan and Patriots hater.

]

“I am from New England, so at the end of the day, when I go home, it’s half Patriots and now it’s half Colts,” he said. “You get the wars in the streets. People are talking this, talking that. So for me, it’s a little bit more special. But I have to go out and cancel all that out and not worry about it.

“I hated the Patriots,” he said. “I was a big Giants fan, and the fact is the Patriots weren’t that good back then. I was always a Mets fan, a New York Giants fan.”

Freeney wore a MFY cap while saying all this.....

The MFY cap was just the fashion Freeney said.

Edgy DC Jan 19 2007 11:14 AM

You big shots gotta make your own fashion statement.

Edgy DC Jan 22 2007 09:47 AM

Like Kristin...

Music Review | Kristin ChenowethHow Daisy Mae’s Charm Finds a Home at the Met By STEPHEN HOLDENPublished: January 22, 2007Kristin Chenoweth made a zany entrance onto the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House on Friday evening, outfitted in a New York Mets baseball shirt and cap, waving a banner and pretending to be a ditsy sports fan arriving late for a game.

After this clever feint Ms. Chenoweth, the tiny, explosively talented blond tornado from Oklahoma, whirled offstage for a few seconds before bouncing back looking like Daisy Mae, in a tight pink dress and grinning ear to ear.

For the rest of the evening, for better and sometimes for worse, Ms. Chenoweth embodied ultimate musical comedy stardom in 2007. That means a performer who polishes the brassy surface of everything to a blinding gleam. She has slabs of raw vocal talent, the drive of a race car that can accelerate from zero to 200 in 10 seconds, and acres of determined cuteness; she is an entertainment JumboTron.

The show’s initial wordplay on the Mets and the Met made deeper metaphorical sense because the concert — directed by Kathleen Marshall with musical direction by Andrew Lippa, who led a small orchestra from the piano — had the feel of an all-American sporting event.

If there were a Broadway version of “American Idol,” Ms. Chenoweth would win hands down, since nobody else can toss off vocal stunts with an agility that suggests a rubber-bodied 13-year-old gymnast with a shelf of gold medals. Her most spectacular trick is to segue from a piercing baby-voiced cry into a light operatic coloratura and back, maintaining perfect intonation as she pirouettes around high C.

Every number was directed to a different audience bloc. “Popular,” from the hit musical “Wicked,” played to the visible claque of upscale teenage girls of the kind who have helped make that show a box-office phenomenon. For male couples (also abundant), a comic dance number found the star romanced by two dancing men who abandon her for each other.

Middle-aged tourists from the heartland were handed a gospel-style version of the old Styx hit “Show Me the Way.” Adam Guettel’s “How Can I Lose You?” and Ricky Ian Gordon’s “Run Away” acknowledged newer musical theater composers while “Gorgeous,” from Ms. Chenoweth’s current Broadway show, “The Apple Tree,” honored an older composing generation (Bock and Harnick).

Looking even further back were a Gilbert and Sullivan medley and Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times,” arranged as the kind of parade march in which you could imagine Ms. Chenoweth as the lead twirler on a small-town Main Street.

I don’t imagine Ms. Chenoweth cares all that much about the quality of her songs, so long as they hit their demographic bull’s-eyes. If she did, she would drop songs like “Taylor, the Latte Boy,” a moony folk-pop trifle about a wistful flirtation with a Starbucks employee. It seems aimed at the same fans who treasure “Popular.”

And what, you may wonder, lies beneath the glare of Ms. Chenoweth’s formidable talent? Is there buried treasure, or is the center hollow? The concert offered no clues.

Edgy DC Jan 22 2007 09:53 AM

Here we go...

MFS62 Jan 22 2007 09:54 AM

]Her most spectacular trick is to segue from a piercing baby-voiced cry into a light operatic coloratura and back, maintaining perfect intonation as she pirouettes around high C.

That brought back painful memories of the old Ed Sullivan TV show. Before he actually booked "pop" singers and saw how successful that was, he used to book opera singers and have them attempt popular songs of the day. They never could break from the operatic mold and ended up both ruining the songs and looking foolish while doing it. Sounds like they shudda' had Kristin back then.

When an aspiring young musician of 17 has a chance to get sage advice from one of the great professionals of our day, it often has lasting influence.

After a master class with saxophonist Branford Marsalis Monday, Napa High student Tom Gartner summed up his experience: “It’s great to have someone like Mr. Marsalis to give us ideas.”

Marsalis, known to most Americans as a member of a famous New Orleans-based family, was in Napa for three days of rehearsal and performance — and instruction aimed at the jazz bands from Napa and Vintage high schools.

Harry Cadelago’s contingent from Napa High was first up, and after a brief question and answer session and remarks from Marsalis, Gartner, drum major for the Napa High marching band, interjected, “Well, you want to hear us?”

The band played an arrangement of “Down By the Riverside,” which was followed by pointers from Marsalis.

Jorgen Gulliksen/Register</fontBranford Marsalis leads the Vintage high school jazz band during a master class at the District Auditorium. “I was lucky to have met and worked with some of the old (jazz) guys. They had large personalities that I had to match or they would’ve swallowed me whole,” Marsalis told the students.Jorgen Gulliksen/Register</font“I don’t listen to (recordings of) myself because it’s counterproductive,” said Marsalis. “I could spend that time listening to someone else.”

“Have any of you listened to Big Band music?” he asked.

Most had, but not the Ellington and Basie standards from the ’40s and ’50s.

Crescent City roots

And what do they have in common with the music of today?

“Intensity,” Marsalis told them. Intensity in feel but danceable. “Music at its best has nothing to do with technical problems,” he added, encouraging the young players to study and practice, but emphasizing that when it comes to performance, intensity comes from within.

Lacking in the jazz education of most young people today, he said, is a sense of history, an understanding of the roots of the American art form. “At least 90 percent of orchestral musicians have played Baroque music,” said Marsalis, “but young players don’t have all the elements of jazz. It’s all based on the blues, gospel, even a single note.”

Marsalis encourages an intensity in performance and feels that’s an important part of what listeners seek. His latest recording “Bragg-town.” It is a sampling of emotional playing with a variety of tempo and tone color, emphasizing Marsalis’ belief in the roots of jazz. “I’m interested in being a fundamentally sound musician,” he said.

He spoke of his own musical roots as a pop player, a traditional jazz musician in his native New Orleans and his early jazz days in contemporary music, which took a detour with stints as music director of the Tonight Show and playing with Sting.

Marsalis, in an interview between rehearsal sets on Saturday, said he hopes tourists keep on coming to his Katrina-ravaged hometown on the Gulf Coast. “It’s going to be broken for a long time,” he said, adding it was broken before Katrina. “Now it’s worse.”

Marsalis is involved in a New Orleans project known as Musicians’ Village, an enclave that will provide housing for 70 musicians and their families displaced by the hurricane. Nearly a dozen units in the former junior high school will be earmarked for the elderly.

“We have 34 homes now and financing in place for more,” said Marsalis.

Most of the locations such as the French Quarter and its famous Bourbon Street have been restored to their previous state. “The tourists need to come,” said Marsalis, noting the support is a necessary part of the infrastructure rebuilding process for the entire community.

The jazz world just lost one of his contemporaries on the jazz scene, Michael Brecker. While Marsalis and Brecker did not always see eye to eye on music production and style, they were friends. “I kept in contact with him by e-mail,” Marsalis said of Brecker who passed away Jan. 13 from complications of a rare bone marrow disease. “If you’re personally OK, ideological differences don’t matter. It’s based on humanity.”

Reprise

The students played through their tune again, better the second time after some coaching. Bill Gantt’s Vintage High jazz band followed and went through a similar exercise.

Gartner doesn’t think he’ll move toward music as a profession, but, he said, Marsalis taught him “we can shape our sound. I learned a lot about the philosophy of the music.”

The master told his students he’s had a lot of great experiences and played with some of the greats of the jazz world and can’t waste his time on mediocrity. “I’d rather be at Shea Stadium watching the Mets lose than play a bad gig,” he said.

]A most untraditional sound came out of the speakers of The Metropolitan Opera Friday night. Just as music director/conductor Andrew Lippa lifted his arms to cue the 11-piece orchestra to begin the evening’s program he was interrupted by the rhythmic chords of an organ playing the type of energizing vamp more typical for a ballpark than an opera house. After a hearty “da-da-da-dat-da-da… charge!” the evening’s soloist dashed out wearing a New York Mets jersey and cap, gleefully waving a pennant and asking if anyone knows where the hot dog stand is. After being tactfully corrected by Lippa (“It’s not the Mets. It’s The Met.), Kristin Chenoweth slipped backstage and, at the climax of a lively Lippa-composed overture, was revealed as the golden curtains parted looking, well, “gorgeous” in a red sparkly mini-dress as she regaled the crowd with the Bock and Harnick showstopper of the same name.

Like what she was wearing in the first place wasn't gorgeous?

Edgy DC Jan 24 2007 03:51 PM

Ms. Chenoweth hails from Broken Arrow, OK, which is where Joe Frazier calls home. But I believe it's got another Met connection which I can't put my finger on.